Register your domain name

What is a valid domain name?

A domain name consists of two parts: the actual domain name and the top-level domain.

Each extension or Top Level Domain ( TLD ) has its own conditions. These are the extensions allowed by  ICANN .

Requirements for .be, .brussels and .vlaanderen

A domain name consists of minimum two and maximum 63 characters.
All letters from a to z, all numbers from 0 to 9 and a hyphen (-) are possible.
A domain name mustn't consist of a hyphen (-) on the third and fourth position at the same time.
The following special characters are also possible. Domain names containing such letters are called IDN or internationalised domain names.
For .be the following special characters are possible:

ß	à	Á	â	ã	ó	ô	þ	ü	ú	ð
æ	å	ï	ç	è	õ	ö	ÿ	ý	ò	ä
œ	ê	ë	ì	í	ø	ù	î	û	ñ	é

For .brussels and .vlaanderen, the following special characters can be used:

	à	Á	â	ã	ó	ô	þ	ü	ú	ð
æ	å	ï	ç	è	õ	ö	ÿ	ý	ò	ä
œ	ê	ë	ì	í	ø	ù	î	û	ñ	é

IDN domain names

U-label

An IDN domain name is written as u U-label. It contains special characters, such as letters with accents or letters from another alphabet.

Eg.: "belgië.be"
A-label

An A-label is the coded version of the U-label. The name is converted to ASCII characters (A-Z, 0-9 and/or ‘-’). This conversion is needed for your browser to display the right page.

eg.: "belgië.be" becomes "xn--belgi-rsa.be"

Choose a domain name

Your domain name must be unique.
Your domain name must be available. Find out the other statuses of a domain name.

Here you can easily check whether your domain name is available:

Reserved domain names

For .brussels and .vlaanderen, a domain name may be reserved. The following categories of domain names are currently on a reservation list:  

Names with only 2 characters that may correspond with country codes. In that case the national government of that country and the domain name administrator of this country code must give their consent.
Names of countries, because the national government of that country must give its consent.
Names of international bodies such as the Red Cross, because they are only awarded to the bodies in question.

Read more about it in the .be terms and conditions or in the .brussels and .vlaanderen terms and conditions.